Bits & Pieces II

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On Failure 

  THE QUESTION: 
  What would you attempt to do if you knew you could
  not fail? 

  Robert Schuller
  Religious leader
       
One of the key characteristics of successful people is how they view
failure. Successful people rarely see failure as fatal; they see it as
feedback. When they don't get the desired result, they learn from the
experience and try, try, again. 

The most successful authors, inventors, actors, etc., have developed the
ability to deal with massive amounts of rejection. High achievers rarely
think of failure as an end in itself. Instead, they believe in delayed
success. A loser says, "I can't do it," while a winner says, "I can't do it
yet." 

Rob Gilbert
Editor, Bits & Pieces


On Happiness 

  The secret of happiness is to count your blessings while others are
  adding up their troubles. 

Too many friendships languish at the bottom of our priority list, untouched
like some endlessly postponed dessert. Too many marriages grow numb
waiting for intimate stretches of time. Too few of us resolve to sing, or to
walk in the snow, to make love, or to make someone laugh. Too many of
us forget what we want. 

The pursuit of happiness that once carried the weight of the American
Revolution now seems frivolous and has to wait. But joy is also a habit.
Use it or lose it. And happiness is not a banal smiley face to stick on an
envelope. It's an option that we must exercise or watch atrophy. 

Ellen Goodman
Journalist


On Living 

    Life is like a ten-speed bike. 
    Most of us have gears we never use. 

    This is our purpose: 
      to make as meaningful as possible this 
      life that has been bestowed upon us; 
      to live in such a way that we may be 
      proud of ourselves; 
      to act in such a way that some part 
      of us lives on. 

     Oswald Spengler (1880 – 1936)
     Philosopher


On Self-Reliance 

     You will never be on top of the world if you try 
     to carry it on your shoulders. 

     Nobody owes anybody anything; it's up to each individual to set high
     standards for himself or herself, and to set about working hard and
     creating a solid future. 

     Katharine Hepburn
     Actress


On Achievement 

     If you don't climb the mountain, 
     you can't see the view. 
     Most of us can do more than we think we can, but we usually do less
     than we think we do. 


On Advice 

     To profit from good advice requires more wisdom than to give it. 

     John Churton Collins
     
     The advice your child rejected is now being given to your grandchild. 


On Love 

     Real love stories never have endings. 

     We do not fall in love, 
     we grow in love and love grows in us. 

     Karl Menninger


On Opportunity 

     Lack of opportunity is often nothing more than 
     lack of purpose or direction. 

     Many of us have heard opportunity knocking at our door, but by the time
     we unhooked the chain, pushed back the bolt, turned two locks, and shut
     off the burglar alarm – it was gone! 


On Self-Improvement 

     Not all birds can fly. What separates the flyers from the walkers is
     the ability to take off. 

     Carl Sagan (1934 - 1996)
     Astronomer

           Let me be a little kinder,
           Let me be a little blinder
           To the faults of those about me.
           Let me praise a little more.

           Let me be, when I am weary,
           Just a little bit more cheery;
           Let me serve a little better
           Those whom I am working for.

           Let me be a little braver
           When temptation makes me waver;
           Let me strive a little harder
           To be all that I should be.

           Let me be a little meeker
           With the person who is weaker;
           Let me think more of my neighbor
           And a little less of me.


On Today 

                      Learn from the PAST.
                      Live in the PRESENT.
                      Plan for the FUTURE. 

There are many fine things that you mean to do someday, under what
you think will be more favorable circumstances. But the only time that is
surely yours is the present, so this is the time to speak the word of
appreciation and sympathy, to do the generous deed, to forgive the fault
of a thoughtless friend, to sacrifice a little more for others. 

Today is the day to express your noblest qualities of mind and heart, to
do at least one worthy thing that you have long postponed. Today you
can make your life significant and worthwhile. The present is yours to do
with as you will. 

Grenville Kleiser
Writer


On Pessimism 

      When a pessimist has nothing to worry about, 
      he worries about why he has nothing to worry about. 

      To guard against the tendency to say "no" too quickly, one executive
      keeps the following sign on his wall:

                HOW TO BURY A GOOD IDEA
                It will never work.
                We've never done it that way before.
                We're doing fine without it.
                We can't afford it.
                We're not ready for it.
                It's not our responsibility.


On Honest 

   I don't subscribe to the thesis, "Let the buyer beware." I prefer the
   disregarded one that goes, "Let the seller be honest." 

   Isaac Asimov (1920 - 1992)
   Writer


On Ambition 

   "Push" will get a person almost everywhere - except through a door
   marked "pull."

A friend's grandfather came to America from Europe, and after being
processed at Ellis Island, he went into a cafeteria in New York City to get
something to eat. He sat down at an empty table and waited for someone
to take his order. Of course, nobody did. Finally, a man with a tray full of
food sat down opposite him and told him how things worked. 

"Start at that end," he said, "and just go along and pick out what you
want. At the other end they'll tell you how much you have to pay for it." 

"I soon learned that's how everything works in America," Grandpa told our
friend. "Life is a cafeteria here. You can get anything you want as long as
you're willing to pay the price. You can even get success. But you'll never
get it if you wait for someone to bring it to you. You have to get up and
get it yourself."  


On Action 

    It is easy to sit up and take notice. 
    What is difficult is to get up and take action. 

    People say to me, "You were a roaring success. How did you do it?" I go
    back to what my parents taught me. Apply yourself. Get all the education
    you can, but then, by God, do something. Don't just stand there, make
    something happen. 

    Lee Iacocca
    Auto executive


On Trouble 

    In the presence of trouble, some people grow wings;
    others buy crutches. 

    Harold W. Ruoff

Trouble makes us one with every human being in the world - 
and unless we touch others, we're out of touch with life. 

If I had a formula for bypassing trouble, 
I wouldn't pass it around.
Wouldn't be doing anybody a favor. 
Trouble creates a capacity to handle
it. I don't say embrace trouble. 
That's as bad as treating it as an enemy.
But I do say meet it as a friend, 
for you'll see a lot of it and had better be
on speaking terms with it. 

Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809 - 1894)
Physician and writer

On Trust 

   You may be deceived if you trust too much, 
   but you will live in torment if you don't trust enough. 

   Frank Crane
   
Having someone's trust is like having money in the bank. Just like a bank
account, you must make deposits if you expect to make withdrawals. 

When you keep your word, it's like making a deposit into your trust fund.
The more often you perform the way you promised, the larger your
balance is. Whenever you break your word, you have made a withdrawal
from your account. 

You have a separate trust fund with each person that you have a
relationship with. If you have been making regular deposits into your
account with that individual, when the time comes that you are unable to
keep your word (let's face it, nobody's perfect!), you will still have a large
enough balance of trust to draw from. That person will realize that your
account is still good. 

You are trustworthy! 

Matt Dimaio
Motivational speaker